St. Cloud State Falls Short In Shootout With Southwest Minnesota State

Saturday, October 19

St. Cloud, Minn.

1 p.m.

St. Cloud State

3-4 , 3-4

Southwest Minnesota State University

3-4 , 3-4

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Southwest Minn. St.

St. Cloud State

Tanner Teige stiff arming a defender after getting a first down

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

St. Cloud State Falls Short In Shootout With Southwest Minnesota State

10/19/2019 5:06:00 PM | Football

Box Score

St. Cloud, Minn. – The St. Cloud State University football team fell in another close game, but this one was different, as 80 points were scored between the Huskies and Southwest Minnesota State. St. Cloud State fought hard and showed a lot of heart against a gritty SMSU football team. With the devastating 38-42 loss, the Huskies fall to 3-4 (2-2 NSIC North) on the season. The Mustangs improve to 3-4 (1-3 NSIC South) after winning the high scoring affair.

St. Cloud State was led offensively by Paris Howell who rushed for 65 yards on 12 carries and Curtwan Evans (Sr., RB, Bloomingdale, Ill.) who had two rushing touchdowns on 36 rushing yards. Tanner Teige (Jr., WR, Big Lake, Minn.) had 125 reception yards while John Solberg (Sr., WR, Cambridge, Minn.) added 120 reception yards and one touchdown. Dwayne Lawhorn (Sr., QB, Germantown, Wis.) threw for 347 yards completing 25 attempts out of 41. The defense was led by Dwayne Wade (Jr., DB, Evanston, Ill.) with eight total tackles and Matthew Lechner (Sr., DB, Waukesha, Wis.) added seven total tackles. Ben Gutschow (Sr., DB, Amherst, Wis.) returned an interception for a touchdown, and Jeremy Makahununiu (So., ILB, Sioux Falls, S.D.) forced a fumble.

With the score tied 0-0 in the first quarter, St. Cloud State was looking for its first touchdown of the afternoon after forcing yet another three-and-out on defense. After an electrifying punt return for the Huskies was called back due to a block in the back, St. Cloud State started the drive on its own five-yard line. A solid drive was aided by two big receptions from Anthony Carver (Sr., TE, Milwaukee, Wis.) and Tiege to extend the drive. A bad snap resulted in a turnover for the Huskies, but the defense came to the rescue and stalled the SMSU offense by forcing a punt.

Later in the quarter, St. Cloud State's defensive dominance continued, as Makahunuiu delivered a big hit and forced a fumble that Wade recovered to put the team in prime field condition. The Huskies offense started at SMSU's 39-yard line and eventually found the end-zone on drive that lasted six plays. Lawhorn found Solberg twice on that drive, one of those resulting in a 12-yard touchdown reception for dynamic duos fourth touchdown connection of the season that gave the Huskies took a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter.

The Mustangs responded with an eight play drive, 75-yard drive of its own to tie the game at 7-7. SMSU's Boyer Bouman found Daniel Davis for a 24-yard touchdown to tie the game with just over eight minutes in the first half.

Since Gutschow had a punt return taken away from him earlier in the game he found another way to get in the end-zone. The senior intercepted the SMSU quarterback and took it to the house for 17-yards, putting the Huskies up 14-7 with 7:06 left in the first half.

Late in the second quarter, the St. Cloud State offense settled in and hit its stride, scoring its second touchdown. On a five-play drive, the Huskies marched 41-yards for another score to make the game 21-7. Lawhorn found a wide open Joe Blando (So., RB, Oak Creek, Wis.) for a 17-yard touchdown reception.

The gritty Mustangs answered back with an 87-yard drive that lasted nine plays. Bouman found Davis again for another Mustangs touchdown to make the score 21-14 in favor of the Huskies. After SCSU got the ball back and mishandled a snap, the Mustangs recovered and scored again before halftime to make the score 21-20 after a missed extra point.

In the second half, the Huskies defense had the Mustangs pinned deep in their own territory on third and 31, but SMSU ultimately converted with the help of a personal foul penalty. The Mustangs used that momentum to take the ball 80-yards and on 11 plays and score to take their first lead of the game late in the third quarter 28-21.

St. Cloud State responded by moving the ball down the field until Lawhorn's pass was tipped and intercepted. A strong return gave the SMSU offense the ball at the Huskies 15-yard line. Another big penalty gave the Mustangs the ball at the two-yard line. One play later SMSU punched the ball in from the one-yard line to make the score 35-21.

SCSU made it a one score game after a 62-yard drive that lasted four plays. Carver made a spectacular 30-yard catch on two defenders that set the Huskies up on the four-yard line. Evans found his way into the end-zone from four-yards out to make the game 35-28 in the fourth quarter.

After the Huskies defense forced a three and out, the SCSU offense went to work. Teige caught a 26-yard reception to move the chains and Paris Howell added a 17-yard rush. On third and long, Lawhorn found Solberg for a 23-yard reception to get the Huskies to the one-yard line. Evans tied the game on a one-yard touchdown run to cap off the 65-yard drive that lasted nine plays.

The St. Cloud State defense made another stand and forced SMSU to punt after a Luke Dunsmoor (So., DE, St. Cloud, Minn.) sack on third and long. The Huskies offense carried that momentum by marching the ball down field. Adam Stage nailed a 45-yard field goal to give the Huskies a 38-35 lead with 2:38 left in the game.

The Mustangs put together a strong drive where they scored a touchdown to take a late 42-38 lead on nine plays. With 44 seconds left in the game the Huskies had the ball on their own eight-yard line with all three timeouts. Lawhorn found Solberg for a big gain then followed that with a Max Plunkett (Fr., WR, Superior, Wis.) reception. Solberg caught another pass up the middle before the Huskies called a timeout with 23 seconds left. Lawhorn found Teige out of the timeout to set SCSU up on the Mustangs 24. Lawhorn's only incompletion that drive came on a tipped pass that was intercepted.

St. Cloud State will hit the road and take on Winona State next weekend for their last cross divisional game of the season.